


A Beautiful Idiot

by Frazzled-Bi (costallee)



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Cute, First words you speak - soulmates, M/M, Soulmates, Soulmates AU, but like, i dont know how tags work, this is a drabble that got away from me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2021-01-26 16:14:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21376915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/costallee/pseuds/Frazzled-Bi
Summary: Soulmate AU where your first words to your soulmate are written on your body.Buck gets his words when he's 15. Of course, his future soulmate would think he's an asshole. Hopefully, he can smooth things over when the time comes.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Eddie Diaz, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Comments: 30
Kudos: 824
Collections: Buck and Eddie are Soulmates





	A Beautiful Idiot

Buck didn’t always love the words painted across his wrist. They were a little crass and written in a messy scrawl, but they were his. No-one knew why the words appeared. Some people were born with them, some lived their whole lives without any words showing up. For others they appeared at a seemingly random point in time. No-one knew for sure what the words meant, but everyone agreed that it was a sign that two people were destined to meet. 

Buck’s showed up in the middle of class when he was 15. One minute he was zoning out while his teacher waxed on and on about the different themes present in the Scarlet Letter, and the next thing he knew his wrist was on fire. He excused himself and rushed to the bathroom. It was agonizing, a ceaseless itching burning sensation on the most sensitive part of his wrist. He shoved it under a stream of cold water in the bathroom sink and watched in awe as the words etched themselves into the skin on his left wrist. He read them over and over again, then groaned and rested his head against the cool glass of the mirror. Apparently his soulmate was going to think he was an asshole. 

It wasn’t until he was in bed that night trying and failing to fall asleep that he realized… his soulmate kind of sounded like a guy.

—

The only person he told was Maddie. She took one look at his soulmark and laughed, pulling him into a side hug. 

“Only _you_ could manage to annoy your soulmate before speaking one word to them.” 

His cheeks burned, and he couldn’t stop grinning. Somewhere out there was someone with words written on their body in Buck’s handwriting! His brow furrowed as he glanced back down at the words on his wrist. He hoped his soulmate’s words were better than his own.

—

“Ok that is a beautiful man” Chimney looked past Buck in awe.

“Where’s the lie - and I like girls!” even Hen looked gobsmacked. 

Buck turned and felt his heart stutter. Part of him was stuck on the guy’s arms - they were _huge_ \- and his abs - what even. His hair looked so soft. The other part of him, a part he wasn’t too proud of, bristled- warning him to get ready to defend his territory. 

“Who the hell is that?” 

“It’s Eddie Diaz, new recruit. Come on I’ll introduce you.” Bobby smiled at him and squeezed his shoulder on his way towards the new guy. 

“You know what Cap? I’ll catch up in a bit. I - left some stuff in - in my locker. Gotta go grab it real quick.” He winced, did that sound convincing?

He could see Chimney and Hen smirking at each other but ignored them. Bobby frowned at him, eyes narrowing. 

“Remember this is a team Buck. We’re always welcoming to new recruits. Play nice.” 

He could feel his face turning red in shame and looked away. 

“Look, I just need a minute Cap. I just left some stuff in my car ok, I’ll be right there.” 

Bobby eyed him up and down before nodding and turning back to the new guy. 

Buck watched his team walk towards Eddie, his gut boiling with some kind of emotion he couldn’t pinpoint. Jealousy? Anger? Attract- _no._ Definitely not that. He started to turn away but glanced back at the team, eyes locking with Eddie across the room. He could feel himself glaring and groaned at himself internally. Why couldn’t he be an adult about this? He scoffed, tearing his eyes away. What happened to good impressions?!? This is why his soulmate would think he had a problem with him. He just couldn’t control his reactions.

—

Buck had managed to avoid Eddie for the rest of the shift. When he tried to come in early the next morning it was only to discover that the other man had beat him to it. Now he was stuck in the gym with the new guy and Chimney, and was doing his best to completely ignore the other man’s presence.

Ok so maybe he was being a bit competitive with the weights. But really, the other guy was showing off too. Besides, he was just as attractive as the new guy - _Eddie, _he corrected himself mentally. His name was Eddie. 

He was just as fit as the new guy, just as good at his job. So maybe the guy was better at taking sexy pictures. Maybe his hair was freaking perfect - how did he even get it to look like that?? He was also an army vet, which - ok. Respect. Whatever, he shook his head. Eddie was already on good terms with the rest of the team. They had accepted him with open arms, but Buck didn’t need to. He definitely wasn’t being childish, and he definitely wasn’t shooting dirty looks at him when he wasn’t looking.

The dirty looks apparently did it. Eddie finally stopped, threw his gloves to the side, and marched up to Buck with a determined look in his eye.

“Alright,” Eddie said, shoving Buck’s shoulder, “what the fuck is your problem man?” 

Buck felt the blood drain from his face, his breath caught in his chest. He groaned and burried his face in his hands. He couldn’t do this right now. His soulmate? Seriously?? After he had been such a major asshole? 

The realization sent a sudden burst of adrenaline, or maybe panic, through his body. This was really happening. Right now. Every hair on his body was standing on end, it was like his skin was buzzing with electricity. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Eddie. He shook his head, he couldn’t look at his fucking soulmate. Because of course he was. He needed to walk away before he said something he would regret… which would then be written on his soulmate forever. _Fuck._

He stood up and glanced over Eddie’s shoulder, locking eyes with a nervous looking Chimney. 

“Hey Chim, you need a spot?” He tried to brush past Eddie, _what was he even doing_, but was stopped by a warm calloused hand on his shoulder. 

“Dude come on, you can’t keep ignoring me.” 

_At least he didn’t sound angry_, thought Buck. _More resigned than anything._

He turned back and finally allowed himself to look the man in the eye. He felt his heart stutter again, his stomach was a bundle of nerves. God his eyes were beautiful - dark and warm, kind looking - in spite of his clear frustration. Even when he was annoyed his eyes looked like they were smiling at him. Here goes nothing.

He took one deep breath in, forced himself to maintain eye contact, and said the first thing that came to mind, “My problem is - that you are the single most attractive man I have ever met.” 

He held his breath and braced for Eddie’s reaction. If he wasn’t so nervous he would have started laughing then and there. Eddie’s face had gone completely blank. He could practically see the “does not compute” error sign flashing over his head. 

“Eddie, I-“

“I have a kid!” Eddie blurted out - his face bright red. 

“Ok?” Buck put a comforting hand on Eddie’s shoulder and squeezed gently. He ducked his head and glanced up at Eddie through his eyelashes. “I like kids.” 

Eddie released a giant sigh like the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders, and started to laugh. Buck couldn’t help himself, it was contagious. The tension between them had finally snapped with that admission and had released a flood of laughter. When their laughter finally started to die down Buck looked around, the gym was empty. Chim must have left to give them some privacy. How he had managed to sneak out Buck didn’t know. 

“Look,” Buck said, wiping the last of the tears of laughter from his eyes, “clearly I made a terrible first impression. I mean, I knew I would but still.” 

He took off the watch that covered the words on his wrist, held out his hand, and beamed at the beautiful man in front of him. “Hi, I’m Buck. I think I’m your soulmate.”

Eddie stepped towards him, a crooked smile on his face, and grabbed Buck’s hand in a firm handshake. “Hi Buck. I’m Eddie, and I’d really like to take you out some time.” 

Buck chuckled and ducked his head again. “I’d really like that.” 

Eddie turned his hand around so he could see the words inscribed on Buck’s wrist. He stepped closer to Buck, drawing his wrist up to his mouth as if to kiss it - then stopped abruptly. 

“What?” Buck blushed violently, _what was it? Did he do something wrong? _

Eddie chuckled and looked up at Buck, his eyes twinkled with laughter. “Nothing Cariño, it’s just -“ he looked down at the words on Buck’s wrist, caressing them with his thumb. The sensation sent a pleasant shiver down Buck’s spine.

He groaned and dropped his head to Eddie’s shoulder. 

“I know, I know! It’s because I was so - you wouldn’t have said it if I hadn’t -“ he paused and took a breath, “I was being an insecure asshole man, I’m sorry.” 

He lifted his head back up, they were so close now. If he rocked forward just a bit… he glanced down at Eddie’s lips, they looked so soft. 

He furrowed his brow, struck by a thought. “Where are your words?” 

Eddie smirked at the taller man and dropped his hand, taking a step back. Buck frowned at the loss of contact and only barely stopped himself from letting out an embarrassing whine. _God, he had known his soulmate for maybe 5 minutes and he was so far gone. _

_“_Oh you’ll see.” Eddie grinned wickedly up at Buck and, in one smooth motion, grabbed the hem of his shirt and lifted it over his head. He tossed the shirt aside and moved back into Buck’s space. “Here,” he said, grabbing Buck’s hand and lifting it to the words scrawled across the left side of his chest. Buck gulped, _right over his heart._

He stared down at the words on the other man’s chest, his heart felt like it was going to burst. 

“I’d really like to kiss you right now.” He blurted out, glancing up into those dark brown eyes. “Sorry it’s just-“ 

Eddie stopped him, crashing his own lips into Buck’s in a heated kiss. People said that kissing your soulmate was like coming home, like finding the missing piece of your soul, but this was a blazing fire. It seared his lips and sent flames through Buck’s entire body. His skin felt like it was burning up in the best way. Eddie’s hands drifted up his neck, squeezed his bicep, drifted down his chest - each touch left a trail of heat in its wake. One of Buck’s hands went to Eddie’s neck, his thumb stroking the other man’s jaw, reveling in the feel of his stubble. His other hand went to his hip and squeezed, trying to draw him impossibly closer. He needed to ground himself or he’d be swept away. 

It was intoxicating. He could lose himself in this man’s kisses, the sound of his breath, the soft feel of his lips contrasted with the roughness of the stubble. It was dizzying, but he forced himself to draw back. Eddie’s eyes were still closed and he couldn’t stop himself from going back in for one last chaste kiss. He leaned his forehead against Eddie’s and gazed at him with half lidded eyes. 

“While I would love to keep doing that,” he glanced down at those soft kiss-bruised lips, “God would I like to keep doing that…” he closed his eyes and shook his head slightly. 

“We’re at work.” Eddie supplied, a smug grin on his face. “And we need to be professional and do our jobs. You know, saving people.” He leaned his head and torso back, but his hands stayed anchored on Buck’s hips. His thumbs rubbed distracting circles on the skin just under the hem of his shirt. 

“Yes.” Buck said, he leaned back in and gave him one last kiss. He kissed him slowly, tenderly. As if to say, _we have all the time in the world._ And, _I love you_. And, _I would kiss you like this all day if I could_. 

“I’d still like to take you to dinner some time.” Buck said as he drew back fully. He walked over to the bench and leaned down to grab his water bottle and gym bag. “And I’d love to meet your kid!” He looked back at Eddie only to catch him staring. 

“See something you like?” 

The older man smirked at him, “You know I do.” His eyes softened, “but yes, I’d like that too. He’s a great kid, I have a feeling you’ll hit it off.” 

Buck grinned and threw the bag over his shoulder. He walked back over to Eddie and reached down for his hand. He gave it a soft squeeze and pulled him along towards the locker room. 

“I’d like that.” 

  


**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work for this fandom and in general! I hope you enjoyed it! This idea has been stuck in my head for a while, I love Soumate AUs! 
> 
> (I'm on tumblr too, frazzled-bi)


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